


A Teaspoon of Truth

by sg_wonderland



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-22
Updated: 2011-06-22
Packaged: 2017-10-20 15:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg_wonderland/pseuds/sg_wonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alternate ending for 'Ark of Truth'</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Teaspoon of Truth

A Teaspoon of Truth

It was a long drive out to the farm but Jack didn’t mind; it was a pretty day, he could buzz the truck windows down and just let his mind drift. The past two months had been interminable. Actually, he really should have said the last six weeks. The first two weeks had been excruciating, waiting for Daniel to die.

No one knew what Adria had done to him, there in that hallowed temple of the Ori. But he was broken, in both body and spirit, when Teal’c and Vala found him unconscious on the floor while Adria fried him with some kind of modified hand device.

Enraged, Teal’c had trashed the place, incinerating Adria, knocking over the ark, truth spilling out for all to see.

Just not enough truth, in Jack’s opinion, and not nearly soon enough. Although the priests had been released from the Ori hold, they were no help to Daniel. They’d been abject in their humility, helping Teal’c and Vala bring a lifeless Daniel home.

He was still in a deep coma-like state when Jack made it to Colorado. Lam wasn’t hopeful; she spoke of diminished brain activity and neuro-scans and significant scarring of the cortex and long-term nursing care until Jack simply left the room.

After sixteen days, Daniel had woken up. Kind of. He’d opened his eyes, looked around, responded sluggishly to stimuli, then quietly asked for Janet Fraiser.

Lam was thrilled that he had been able to communicate at all, to construct even the simplest of sentences, that he recognized and could name his teammates although his mind had apparently defaulted to the original SG-1. But she was brutally honest with them about his chances of anything like a full recovery. His brain was damaged; how much, they’d just have to find out as time went by.

Day after day, they made sobering discoveries. Most of Daniel’s language skills were gone; all those languages had been taken from him. He could communicate simply, in English, but seemed perplexed by books in languages that Jack knew he should have read easily. Every once in a while a look of pure frustration would cross his face. It was as if he knew he should know but the knowledge was simply beyond his grasp.

This, to Jack, was the cruelest fate of all. The thing that had made Daniel so special, so Daniel, was gone. Had Adria specifically created this damage, to try to control Daniel, to hold him to her teachings? Jack hoped, with a vicious anger, that Adria had felt every spark as she’d burned to death. And as for those mightier-than-thou Ascended folks? He hoped they’d all shared Adria’s fate.

*

There had been no question of Daniel remaining at the SGC. The amazing, unique skills he had to offer were lost; the Air Force was left with no choice but to retire him with full disability. He had received the best care available; Carter had even gone at him with a healing device. Daniel reported she had given him a headache and asked, politely, that she please stop. She’d complied but had cried herself sick, locked in her lab afterward.

It had taken Jack the best part of the past six weeks to convince the SGC, the Pentagon and the President that he was serious about retiring, too. Daniel had given his life, several times, for this country and the way Jack saw it, the least they could do in return was to see that Daniel lived out the rest of his life in peace and quiet, surrounded by people who loved and would care for him.

Daniel could no longer stand to be around crowds; he’d been constantly awakened by the noise in the infirmary and would shudder for long minutes afterwards, fighting sleep. The apartment was out of the question, Jack had already sold his house in the Springs so Teal’c had suggested he hunt for something that would suit his friend.

He found an old house that a local contractor was ‘flipping’. It was very rural, secluded, the gently sloping land no longer farmed. Teal’c inspected the house, sent Jack photographs and they agreed it would be perfect. The original parts of the house were local stone and wood; the add-on in the back was all wood and window. The Air Force had helped expedite the sale so that when Daniel was ready to be released from the infirmary, he could go home.

Lam fretted about the move itself; finally deciding just to sedate him and have a helicopter take him straight to the house. Jack was still tying up loose ends in DC so the rest of SG-1 helped Daniel settle in one of the downstairs bedrooms, painted a pale, serene blue. Daniel fell asleep looking out the window at the Rockies.

*

Carter walked out as Jack pulled up. With a watery smile, she came out to help him unload his stuff. “How is he?”

She shrugged. “Took the move well enough, but that could be because he slept the whole way out here. Asked for you, Teal’c told him you were on your way.” She hesitated.

“Carter? What are you not telling me?”

“He also asked for Vala.”

Vala was a very sore spot for them. No one wanted to tell Daniel what had happened to her, partly to save him the heartache but mostly because they simply didn’t know. She’d been frantic, blaming herself for what had happened. Everyone had pointed out, repeatedly, that she had no control over Adria but Vala had maintained that she could have prevented Adria taking Daniel, should have stopped Daniel sacrificing himself to save his team.

No one knew where Vala was because she had finally convinced Landry to assign her to a different team and when they went on their next mission, she simply vanished. The search proved fruitless. Realistically, they knew if she didn’t want to be found then she wouldn’t be. All they found was her SGC gear in a pile, her clothes neatly folded; the only thing missing, besides Vala, was her SG-1 patch.

*

Jack frowned when he saw the cloud of dust coming up the farm lane; it was kind of his built-in radar detector. He knew Daniel wouldn’t come out of his room unless Jack came to get him, assure him it was friend and not foe.

So he was standing on the front porch, arms crossed when George Hammond climbed out of a rental car. A civilian car. Jack took a minute to notice that the general was dressed in civvies at – Jack glanced at his watch – fourteen-hundred hours on a Thursday afternoon. Something, he suspected, was up and judging by the good general’s face, it probably wasn’t good news.

“Jack. Good to see you. How is Dr. Jackson?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to you, Jack. Off the record, between two old friends. Can we do that?”

Jack frowned but led him back into the house, into the bright, airy kitchen. “Daniel’s in his room. He won’t come out unless he knows who’s here.”

“Let’s leave him in peace, then.”

Jack puttered around, putting on a pot of coffee, answering his questions about Daniel. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“Jack, the IOC is interested in debriefing Dr. Jackson.”

“Debriefing him? They’ve got a helluva nerve.”

“I can’t tell you anything about them you don’t already know. They don’t believe Dr. Jackson can’t remember. They want,” Hammond sighed, “it’s been suggested that if the Tok’ra memory recall device were used, they could…”

“Fry his brain even further?” Jack swore under his breath. “And they won’t take anyone’s word for it?”

“Dr. Lam and Dr. McKenzie have told them repeatedly that Dr. Jackson’s scans prove the damage exists. And that trying to force him to remember could do him irreparable harm.”

“They don’t give a damn about damaging him any further.”

“No, they just want what they want. Landry’s hands are tied. He’ll be getting his orders in a few days, instructing him to bring Dr. Jackson in for questioning.”

“I won’t let that happen. Daniel…he’s just getting settled in.” Jack leapt up to pace the kitchen. “We have to do something.”

“I’m trying to help you, Jack. And help Dr. Jackson. If you have an ace up your sleeve, now would be a good time to play it.”

Jack laughed unexpectedly. “I actually have a couple but I could use your help with one of them.” He held up his hand. “Nothing illegal, just need you to send a message to one of our allies. Thor is very, very fond of Daniel.”

Hammond grinned. “Oh, I think that could be arranged. Now, I’d like to see Dr. Jackson before I leave if I may? I’m only in town this weekend because Kayla has a dance recital.”

Jack smiled back. “Is that a fact? What a coincidence.”

*

Jack couldn’t believe his ears when he entered the SGC briefing room two weeks later and heard Dr. McKenzie arguing vehemently. For Daniel. A few years ago, he might well have signed off on the suggested procedure without hesitation. But he’d changed; his years at the SGC had changed him.

“I simply cannot condone this. We have no idea what damage this could do to Dr. Jackson. Of course, that may well be your intention.” Good one, Jack thought, as he lounged in the doorway.

“Dr. McKenzie,” Landry answered wearily, “I can assure you that no one wants to see Dr. Jackson hurt any worse than he has already been. But the IOC is not completely convinced…”

“Of what? That he isn’t faking his injuries?” McKenzie shot back. “His brain is injured, the scans clearly show that. You don’t seem to comprehend how fragile his situation is. My God, the first person he asked for was a woman who had been dead for years!”

“We’re well aware that Dr. Jackson may have initially been confused…” Some suit across the table piped in.

“No, I don’t think you do understand. Dr. Fraiser cared for him and nurtured him and comforted him. His calling for her was the psychological equivalent of asking for his mother.” McKenzie straightened, shoved his hands in his pockets. “Medically, I find no benefit to the procedure.”

“We appreciate your concern.” This from yet another one of the suits. “However, we do not need your permission.”

“But you do need mine.” Jack said quietly.

“General O’Neill?” Landry turned to him; if he was surprised to see Jack without Daniel, he didn’t show it. “Where’s Dr. Jackson?”

Jack opened the envelope he’d brought, took out a single sheet of paper and slid it to Landry. “I think you’ll find that as Dr. Jackson’s next of kin, you do need my signature. Which you aren’t getting.” Jack smiled. “You can keep that copy. My lawyer holds the original and she wants me to warn you that she is prepared to defend it in court. Vigorously.”

Landry scanned the document that simply stated Dr. Daniel Jackson gave Jonathan ‘Jack’ O’Neill a medical power of attorney in the event he, Dr. Jackson, became medically incapacitated. It was signed, notarized and was dated several years ago. The signature certainly looked authentic to a man who’d seen Daniel’s scrawled name often enough. Biting back a smile, he slid it down the table.

“I also hold his legal power of attorney, brought you a copy of that, too.” Jack gave him that sheet. “Daniel isn’t yours to experiment with. He isn’t a damned lab rat and you’re not getting within a mile of him. I’ve got a shotgun out at the farm and I do know how to use it.” He walked away, turned back at the stairs. “If you come on my land, I’ll shoot you. And don’t think of trying anything fancy, like beaming him out. You’ll be hearing from Thor momentarily and he’ll…well, I’ll let him tell you. Have a nice day.”

*

The farm came with a ramshackle barn that Jack decided to fix up. He’d originally started out just puttering around, fixing a loose board or two, reinforcing the stalls with a half-assed idea to get a horse.

For the first month or so, Jack would only leave Daniel when someone was there to keep an eye on him, like Carter or Teal’c. But he’d gotten to the point now that Jack felt safe leaving him alone while he shopped, picked up the mail and just generally explored the small rural community that was now their home. Jack was still working on getting Daniel to agree to come into town with him.

That was how Jack went to the store one day for potato chips and came home with a dog. From his favorite place on the stone front porch, Daniel just stared when the dog, showing what Jack thought of as incredibly good taste, walked over and put his head on Daniel’s knee, peered up with melting brown eyes. “Jack?”

“Ran into the vet at the grocery store, she said she had a dog that needed a good home and she’d heard I had a good home and I could come by and pick him up.” Jack shrugged. “You know I could never say no to a dog.” Jack pretended not to notice that Daniel was gently stroking the dog’s head, fingering the long floppy ears. “He’s some kind of a lab-hound mix but she didn’t think he’d get much bigger.”

“What’s his name?”

“Darby.” Jack, smothering a triumphant smile, gathered the groceries and carried them in the house, leaving the two to get acquainted.

*

Jack felt better about leaving Daniel now that Darby was on guard duty. The dog had immediately latched on to Daniel and followed him everywhere. Jack groused good-naturedly that he was the one who had saved the miserable mutt but Daniel was getting all the love.

He was well on the way to getting the barn fixed up enough to keep a horse. On this surprisingly hot spring evening, he was just thinking about calling it a day when he heard the distant rumble of thunder. Yeah, definitely time to quit, he thought, as he put his tools away, fastened the door behind him before jumping on his newest toy, an ATV, and heading back to the house.

The attached garage was large enough to hold his truck, the ATV and the rest of the stuff he’d accumulated in the four months they’d been living there. He parked and jogged up the steps into the kitchen. Stopping for a bottle of water, he went in search of his guys, finding both of them on the front porch, Daniel lounging in the porch swing with a book, Darby just a few steps away. “Hey, what’s happening?” Jack eyed the book Daniel was reading. The usual heavy tomes of history he used to cart around had been replaced by novels or murder mysteries or, surprisingly, Westerns.

Darby yipped softly but Daniel didn’t reply, just kept the swing going. Jack wasn’t worried about the silence; he’d gotten used to Daniel and his quiet spells. Only nowadays, they came more often and lasted a bit longer.

The Air Force shrink said she’d be concerned if Daniel didn’t suffer from PTSD after what had happened. The doctors were unsure how much of his previous life he remembered but Jack thought there was still a lot of Daniel left. He just didn’t know how to express himself anymore.

*

Jack had taken the front bedroom for himself. Two small bedrooms had been transformed into one fairly large room. Daniel was down the hallway, in the addition that had doubled the size of the kitchen and created the master with the big bathroom and a great view of the mountains to the south. Jack liked being on the front side of the house; if anything came up the drive, he’d be the first to know.

There were more bedrooms on the upper two floors that frequently housed Carter or Teal’c or even Mitchell. Jack hadn’t quite known how to take the new guy but he was clearly fond of Daniel so that made him okay in Jack’s book. Although Jack knew he’d been repeatedly told to call Daniel ‘Daniel’, he persisted in calling him ‘Jackson’.

Jack was jolted awake later that night by a clap of thunder. Thinking how different storms sounded out here in the country, he started to roll back over when he suddenly thought Daniel might be frightened by the storm; he rose to check on him.

Daniel’s room was empty, the bedcovers half on the floor. “Daniel?” Jack called as he stuck his head in the bathroom, noting with a frisson of fear that it was empty. “Daniel?” He shouted through the house, getting no reply. His heart thumped when he saw the kitchen door standing wide open. “Daniel?” He couldn’t hear anything for the storm. Without hesitation, he plunged out, shouting.

Faintly, he heard Darby barking. “Darby?” He listened, and made his way, slipping over the wet grass toward the frantic barking. He nearly tripped over Daniel, going to his knees, feeling around with his hands until he found an ankle. “Daniel.” He slid his way up the soaking wet body, relieved to find Daniel moving beneath his hands. “Come on, Daniel, we can’t stay out here. You have to come back inside. Come on, you need to stand up. Help me here, I can’t carry you.”

He finally got Daniel vertical and they stumbled toward the lights of the house. Jack thankfully closed and locked the door behind them. “Good boy, Darby,” he praised as he lowered Daniel to a chair. The laundry room was just a few steps from the kitchen so it only took Jack a moment to grab some towels and dart back, giving Darby a quick rub before concentrating on Daniel. “What were you doing out there?” Jack didn’t really expect an answer as he toweled Daniel’s hair, longer now that he’d left the SGC. “Stay here and let me get you something dry to put on. Darby, keep an eye on him, will ya?”

Jack quickly changed before detouring through Daniel’s room to get flannel pants, a T-shirt, socks and a robe. He dropped his clothes in the washer before heading back to the kitchen. He stripped Daniel, dried him off and re-dressed him quickly, pulling socks on cold, white feet. “There, now, you’re good to go.” He put the kettle on the stove before he picked up the rest of the wet things and started the washer; he suspected there wasn’t going to be much more sleeping tonight anyway.

He fiddled with cups and tea and sugar while waiting for the kettle to boil. “Here, watch out, it’s hot.” He slid a cup onto the table. “Daniel, what’s going on?” He realized Daniel hadn’t said a word throughout the entire escapade. Jack took a careful sip of tea, rested his hand on Darby’s head. “Did the storm wake you?”

Daniel nodded. “The thunder,” his voice was soft and Jack had to lean forward to hear him. “And the light. It was…I got scared,” he stumbled over the words, “that it was happening all over again.”

Jack didn’t have to ask. They had all wondered how much Daniel remembered about what Adria had done to him; he reckoned he was about to find out.

Daniel finally spoke. “She kept trying to get me to tell her what I knew, if I knew how the ark worked. I realized that she didn’t know herself. I tried not to tell her, I really tried.” He darted a glance up at Jack. “I think I told her.”

“It’s okay, Daniel.” Jack inched closer, until he was knee to knee with Daniel. “She…she didn’t get time to use that knowledge.”

“Teal’c killed her.” Daniel stated baldly.

“She was killing you, Daniel. Teal’c did what he had to do. I’d have done it, Mitchell would…hell, we all would have gladly killed her for what she’d done to you.”

“The room was full of fire and lightning. I heard someone scream and I didn’t want to be there anymore. I wanted her to stop hurting me but I just didn’t want to have to watch her die. Even after she was….not there anymore, the fire just kept coming.”

Jack’s hands curved around to pull him in tight, rested his cheek on Daniel’s hair, mentally swearing never to tell Teal’c. “It’s okay. You don’t ever have to think about it again. Ever. You’re here and you’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

“Why are you all doing this?” He reared back abruptly. “I’m a wreck and you’re spending all your time baby-sitting me.”

Jack smiled, let his hand cup Daniel’s cheek. “That’s one thing that’s always been so hard for you. You just cannot let people care about you, can you? We love you, Daniel. We all love you.”

“Don’t put that on me, Jack. I can’t carry that…”

“Love’s not a burden, Daniel. It isn’t something you have to carry. How about you let us do the heavy lifting for a while? You just need to rest and take some time. Play with Darby, listen to some music…”

“If that’s an attempt to get me to listen to opera, it isn’t going to work. It still sounds like cats being tortured.” Daniel snapped.

Jack snorted with laughter. “That sounds an awful lot like the Daniel Jackson I know and love.” Daniel shifted uncomfortably under his hand. “I love you, Daniel. You have to know that.” Taking a chance, Jack pressed a kiss to Daniel’s temple. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Why don’t you try to get some more sleep?”

“But it’s morning,” Daniel protested childlike even as Jack helped him up, led him down the hallway. Jack let him detour through the bathroom, filling the time by re-making Daniel’s bed. “Now, here we go, all tucked in nice and warm and dry.” Daniel scowled as Jack kissed his cheek before he walked over to pull the blinds, darkening the room. “I’ll be right down the hall, holler if you need me.”

But he didn’t walk down the hall. He sat on the side of the bed and watched Daniel sleep.

*

Jack realized they’d turned some sort of a corner that night. Daniel spoke a little more, was more like his old sharp-tongued self. And he started getting up at a decent hour, even going with Jack and Darby for their early morning walks.

Some days, Jack would walk down the lane and out on the highway but now that Daniel was with them, he kept them on the farm, walking the fields, down by the creek, out to the barn.

Daniel poked around in the barn, giving Jack a curious look. “Are you planning something?”

“Like what?” Jack was currently building a fence around the barn lot.

“You’re getting an awful lot accomplished with your ‘puttering’.” Daniel italicized the word with his fingers.

“How do you feel about horses?” Jack asked abruptly.

“I...I don’t know. Did I ever have a horse?”

“Judging by the few times I saw you ride, I’d have to say that was an unequivocal no.” He tested a few of the rails. “I thought I might like to get one.”

“You don’t have to ask my permission.” Daniel snapped.

“Good point,” Jack hid a smile.

Daniel leaned against a post. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Jack mumbled around a nail he was holding between his teeth.

“Do you want to have sex with me?”

Jack inhaled sharply, fearful that he’d just swallowed the nail. “Wha….what made you ask that?”

“You said you loved me.”

“I do.”

“People who love each other have sex.”

“That’s it,” Jack shook his head. “I’m cancelling Showtime.”

“Jack.”

“Not everyone loves each other that way, Daniel.”

“But we did, didn’t we?”

Jack took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts. “Only you would stand in the middle of a cornfield and ask that question.”

“And I’m still waiting for an answer.”

“Let’s go back to the house. I suspect this is a conversation for which I’m gonna need some liquid libation.”

“Okay,” Daniel whirled and started to walk away.

“Oh, geez,” Jack thought seriously about throwing the hammer at Daniel but, with his luck, he’d probably bean him with it. “Darby, go to Daniel.” He watched the dog obediently lope after the rapidly departing figure before he started gathering his tools, putting them away. He realized he was delaying, putting off a conversation he didn’t really want to have.

*

He went in the back door, washed his hands, poured two glasses of iced tea instead of whiskey and headed to where he knew he’d find Daniel.

“Here.” He held the glass out, waited for Daniel to take it before he sat in the old rocker. He could see why Daniel loved the front porch. The stone floor was always cool on the feet, the depth of the roof kept it shady most of the day and it was big enough for decent sized porch furniture. “So you want to know if we used to have sex, huh?”

Daniel took a sizable drink before he put the glass on the table. “I know we did.”

“And you know this, how?”

“When I had the nightmare and ran out into the storm?”

“I remember.” Jack took a drink of tea.

“You stayed in my room with me the rest of the night. I could hear you breathing and I…,” he looked at the floor, avoiding looking at Jack. “I dreamed you were in the bed with me then I realized it wasn’t a dream, it was a memory.”

“No,” Jack answered, quietly. “It wasn’t a dream.”

“We were lovers before I got hurt.” Daniel had to have it spelled out for him.

“We were in love, Daniel, not just lovers. Big difference, trust me.” He couldn’t help but smile at Daniel’s expression; he could almost track the thoughts as they processed through that busy brain.

“So why aren’t we having sex now?”

“Right now, this very minute?” Jack stalled.

“Yes,” Daniel said, quickly calling his bluff. “Why aren’t we having sex at this very moment?”

“Daniel, do you know what the word ‘consensual’ means?”

He looked confused. “Yes, I do. It means by mutual con…” His voice trailed off. “You didn’t think I’d consent to have sex with you?”

“I didn’t think you were in a place, mentally, where you could make an informed, adult decision. I’m not convinced you’re there yet.”

Proving that his brain was a lot more agile than Jack thought, Daniel replied, “Jack! I don’t think you would force me!”

“What I think is that you might agree to something you’re not entirely comfortable with, if you thought it would please me. So, we might eventually get around to having sex again, but it’s something we’re both going to have to work on. And, as much as it grieves me to say this, you need to talk to Dr. Adams about this.”

Daniel looked aghast. “I can’t talk about sex to Dr. Adams!”

“Daniel, I honestly don’t think there’s anything you could say to Dr. Adams that would shock her.”

“But…she’s…”

“What? A woman?”

“She’s….,” Daniel struggled, then blurted out. “She’s old enough to be my mother!”

“I’m pretty sure I saw some pictures of some grandchildren in her office, which means she has children, which leads me to suspect she may have actually had sex a time or two.” Jack kept a completely straight face.

Daniel was silenced by that thought. “I…I don’t know…”

“You want I should pass her a note during study hall, ask her to ask you about sex?” Jack saw he’d completely lost Daniel. “Sorry, that wasn’t so funny, was it? Has Dr. Adams every asked you about your sex life?”

“No,” Daniel still looked embarrassed.

“Then maybe she’s been waiting for you to bring it up. When you’re ready, you ask her. And when you’re ready, we can make love.” Jack’s eyes warmed as he smiled at Daniel.

“That could be…what if I never get to that point?”

“I’m not doing this,” Jack waved his hand around, “because I want to have sex. Believe me, if I just wanted sex, I could find it with someone way less complicated. I’m doing this because I love you and you need me. If this is as far as we ever go, I can accept that.”

“How can you say that?” Daniel frowned.

“Because we’re damned lucky to be sitting here having any kind of conversation. You nearly died, Daniel, and you’ve exceeded everything Lam said you’d ever accomplish. As long as you’re alive, I can put up with alot.” Daniel’s brow furrowed as he processed. “How about I get us some more tea?” Jack grabbed both glasses and opened the screen door with the toe of his boot.

Daniel leaned back in the swing, setting it in motion with his foot. The sky was a peaceful blue, devoid of a single cloud, there was a gentle breeze stirring the flowers around the porch, Darby shifted over so that he’d be in reach if he was needed and Jack was bringing him a glass of tea.

Maybe, for now, that was enough.


End file.
